I just flew back from Florida and boy are my arms tired.
Crummy old jokes aside, I did just get back from a quick four day vacation to St. Petersburg where my lovely wife agreed to let me sneak off to East Bay Raceway on Friday night to catch one night of racing action during the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Winter Nationals. It was the first time that I have been at one of my favorite tracks in fifteen years and it definitely brought back plenty of memories as well as making a new one with an entertaining close to a quick night of action.
Gone are the days when this event would draw 60 to 80 cars and with the World of Outlaws opener in southern Georgia pulling a field of 46 there were 35 drivers signed in to compete on this beautiful evening. After suffering through colder than normal temps and strong winds the first few nights, conditions that also plagued us at the beach, it was nice to be able to enjoy the evening with just a sweatshirt on.
The field was split into two groups for qualifying, the first would comprise heats one and two while the second group would run heats three and four, and the heats were lined straight up by qualifying time with the fast drivers up front. The winner of the first heat would earn the pole position for the 50-lap main event while the winner of heat three would start to his outside so obviously turning a quick lap is vital to a successful evening on the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.
Scott Bloomquist was quick time in group one and outdragged Darrell Lanigan at the drop of the green to go flag-to-flag in the opening heat race. The battle for the fourth and final transfer position heated up mid-race though when local driver Kyle Bronson put the muscle on UMP Champ Bobby Pierce sending Pierce for a spin that then collected WISSOTA champion Ricky Weiss. Pierce would head to the pits with front end damage and would later use the provisional that goes to the fastest qualifier that does not transfer to tag the field of the A.
Mason Zeigler started from the pole of heat two only to have Jared Landers get the jump from the outside and from there things just kept getting worse for the young driver from Pennsylvania. Gregg Satterlee would drop him back to third and then when Eddie Carrier Jr. rode Zeigler up into the turn three wall that allowed Tim McCreadie to dart from fifth to third. Zeigler returned the favor to Carrier in turn two a lap later causing him to stop on the back stretch, but shortly after the late restart Steve Francis would take the fourth and final transfer away. Zeigler would come back to win the first B-Main, but had to be thinking what might have been if he would have been able to back up that second quick time in group one.
Jonathan Davenport was the final car out to time and, no surprise, he was still able to be the overall fastest qualifier of the night with an electrifying ride around the cushion of the Clay on the Bay. Superman then left Randy Weaver in his wake as he ran off with the win in heat three. Jimmy Owens, who tagged the wall in qualifying, started ninth and had only passed one car before he went for a spin exiting turn two with two laps remaining. The former series champion would later use a provisional to start the main event from the rear.
The fourth heat race was relatively uneventful with Don O'Neal leading Tim Dohm to the checkers.
Ricky Weiss returned to start last in the first B-Main and made a final lap pass of Sonny Conley to finish second to Zeigler while Mississippi driver David Breazeale dominated the second B-Main. The Dirt On Dirt Strawberry Dash serves as the Last Chance race with recent University of Florida graduate Austin Kirkpatrick taking the win in a chassis of his own design.
The stage was now set for the 50-lap finale and there was a buzz in the large crowd with Scott Bloomquist and Jonathan Davenport starting on the front row. The 52-year-old veteran Bloomquist got the jump at the drop of the green, but before a lap could be scored the caution waved as Weiss and Conley tangled in turn two. On the second start Bloomquist again had the advantage, but after just one lap was recorded Devin Moran spun in turn two. Now out front for the restart Bloomquist again held the lead only to have the caution wave again a lap later when Justin Ratliff tagged the back stretch wall. Another restart, one more lap scored, and then Mark Whitener and Freddie Carpenter had issues in turn one. And, with each caution, the annoying "turn four body shop" had at least one or two customers as drivers are encouraged to stop down and visit with the Lucas Oil series official to make a slow walk around the car and tug on any sheet metal damage that they may, or may not have.
Finally we were able to get some actual racing in as Landers dropped Davenport back to third on the restart and as Bloomquist started to pull away Davenport regained the runner-up spot on lap ten. He was not making up any ground on the leader though until Bloomquist started to work lapped traffic and soon that lead completely disappeared with Davenport ready to pounce. Before that could happen though the caution waved again on lap 19 as one of those lapped cars, Pierce slowed with a flat tire and ducked into the pits for a quick change.
When the green flag returned it was just four laps later when Gregg Satterlee jumped the cushion and hit the wall in turn one, already the sixth caution of the event. Following this restart Davenport pulled even with Bloomquist using the low line in turns one and two and when the leader threw the block in turn three that allowed Darrell Lanigan to make it an interesting three car chase for the next several laps. The final caution appeared on lap 36 for a flat tire on the car of Steve Francis and once again shortly after the restart Davenport shot to low side of Bloomquist in one and two.
Again Bloomquist thwarted the challenge by blocking down low in turns three and four so Davenport dropped back a few car-lengths to regroup and then tried out the high line on that end of the track. With just ten laps to go and the leader now working the low side on both ends, Davenport made up his mind that the cushion would hold him and seemingly flat footed his way around the top in three and four vaulting to the lead down the front stretch as the fans cheered their approval. There would be no catching him from there as the driver of the year in 2015 is having an even better start to 2016 taking the $10,000 top prize and regaining the Lucas Oil Series point lead with Josh Richards now back on the Outlaws trail.
Bloomquist, who himself used to dominate like this, had to be scratching his head in second while Darrell Lanigan put his new ride, the Clint Bowyer Racing #15 in third. Lanigan's teammate Don O'Neal finished where he started in fourth while new series regular Tim McCreadie was fifth.
The entire show, from qualifying to the final checkers took under three hours to complete and I was back in my airport area hotel by ten o'clock hoping to get some sleep before an early morning departure. Returning to one of my all-time favorite tracks was a great way to kick off 2016 and I am now checking the schedule to see where I can go in March!
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